Artifactual and environmental related variations in Fuego-Patagonia (Argentina)

JUDITH CHARLIN, KAREN BORRAZZO AND MARCELO CARDILLO

Sacramento

Congreso; 76 th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology; 2011

Society for American Archaeoloy

Diversity in environmental conditions has a variable effect on technological strategies employed by hunter-gatherers worldwide. Here we assess this pattern within Fuego-Patagonia, which comprises several ecological areas including forest, steppe and maritime coast. The study explores the relationship between environmental variables and lithic assemblages structure, richness and composition by applying multivariate statistical analysis (constrained ordination). Artifactual samples were recovered from Late Holocene stratigraphic and surface contexts located between 50º and 53º S. This research contributes to regional and worldwide discussions about the role of environmental factors and the spatial scale of technological diversity.